The friendship of
Canute of Denmark and the Guelf tradition combined to give him his
earliest and greatest success in the North. It was the interest of the
baronage to prolong a struggle which secured their own independence at
the expense of the central authority. Both parties looked for outside
help. Otto, besides his Danish friends, relied on his uncle Richard,
and, after his death, on his uncle John. Philip formed a league with
his namesake Philip of France. But distant princes could do but little
to determine the result of the contest. It was of more moment that
both appealed to Innocent III, and that the Pope willingly accepted
the position of arbiter. "The settlement of this matter," he declared,
"belongs to the apostolic see, mainly because it was the apostolic see
that transferred the Empire from the East to the West, and ultimately
because the same see confers the Imperial crown."
In March, 1201, Innocent issued his decision. "We pronounce," he
declared, "Philip unworthy of empire, and absolve all who have taken
oaths of fealty to him as king. Inasmuch as our dearest son in Christ,
Otto, is industrious, discreet, strong, and constant, himself devoted
to the Church and descended on each side from a devout stock, we, by
the authority of St.
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